Breaking the Silence with Dr Gregory Williams

Guest, Dr Julie Kaplow

Dr. Kaplow serves as Director of the Trauma and Grief Center, a SAMHSA-funded Treatment and Service Adaptation Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. In this role, she oversees evidence-based assessment, treatment, and research with youth and families exposed to traumas and/or losses, and develops and disseminates trauma- and bereavement-informed “best practices” to community providers nationwide. 

A strong proponent of a scientist-practitioner approach, Dr. Kaplow’s primary research interests focus on the biological, behavioral, and psychological consequences of childhood trauma and bereavement, with an emphasis on therapeutically modifiable factors that can be used to inform psychosocial interventions. Dr. Kaplow’s ongoing studies examine the effectiveness of treatments for various populations of youth including those with a history of trauma, youth exposed to traumatic bereavement, and youth anticipating the death of a loved one. Related theory-building work includes the examination of age- and culture-specific manifestations of grief, methodological issues related to the assessment of childhood grief and posttraumatic stress (including measure development), and developmental models of bereavement and trauma-related risk and resilience. 

Dr. Kaplow is also actively engaged in community-based participatory research.  For example, with support from the New York Life Foundation, Dr. Kaplow co-leads (with colleagues from UCLA) a practice-research network of sites across the country (including community clinics, grief support organizations, schools, and academic medical centers) that use “common denominator” theory, assessment tools, and interventions to address the unique needs and strengths of bereaved youth and families.

Dr. Kaplow is board certified by the American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (ABCCAP) of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP).